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Khmer-language books
Cambodia’s official language is Khmer (above), a language with its roots in India's ancient Sanskrit writings. The Angsoeng Library needs Khmer-language books more than any other texts in order to educate the rural population, support Cambodia's culture and traditions, and make the library a popular destination that rural residents will use regularly.
Khmer books are hard to find outside of Cambodia, but they do exist. You can often find them in ethnic bookstores in major cities, through Cambodian-American organizations and a few California-based publishers that sell Khmer-language books, including Shen's Books and Supplies and Pan Asian Publications.
Illiteracy remains a scourge in Cambodia, particularly in the rural areas, according to Cambodia's National Institute of Statistics. According to the 1998 census, almost one-third of the country cannot read its own language. In rural areas, the illiteracy rate increases slightly to more than 35.1 percent. Additional education information can be found in the country’s 2003 statistical yearbook.
Takeo province, home to the Angoseng Library, has a slightly lower literacy rate than the national average, according to the census.
Cambodia's resources are such that it has been difficult to recover all the books that were destroyed from 1975-79, when the radical communist Khmer Rouge ruled the country. Under that regime, most of the country's books were burned and its libraries and schools neglected or defiled.
But the country's needs today are so great that replenishing the supply of books is considered secondary to issues such as demining the nation, disarming rebel groups, elevating the standard of living and reestablishing a basic infrastructure in the country.
Khmer can easily be mistaken for the languages Lao and Thai, spoken in nearby Laos and Thailand. However, Khmer characters are generally thinner than either Thai or Lao. If you are unsure whether the book is written in Khmer, please try and confirm the language in the book before sending it.
There are a series of excellent Web sites that provide in-depth information about the Khmer language. You can find them under the Yahoo! listing of Khmer.